Research
Working Longer Cannot Solve the Retirement Crisis
Brief— Working longer is often proposed as the solution to the retirement crisis caused by older workers’ lack of retirement assets, but new research from SCEPA's ReLab shows this assumption doesn't match older workers' real experiences in the labor market.
In a forthcoming book about cities and inequality, SCEPA Senior Fellow Rick McGahey examines how economists think about cities, what they typically leave out, and what this tells us about the future for urban hubs such as New York City.
TIF’s self-financing rhetoric can be used to shift risk onto taxpayers.
Research note— New research shows that even before the COVID-19 recession, only 36% of workers ages 25-64 were participating in a retirement plan at work, a five percentage point decrease from five years prior.
Working paper— Contrary to the predictions of theoretical models, working longer does not significantly increase the share of older workers who are financially prepared for retirement.
Brief— SCEPA's latest research finds that the COVID-19 recession worsens the inequality of job safety among older workers.
Brief— SCEPA’s latest policy note by Senior Fellow William M. Rodgers III, former chief economist at the US Department of Labor, highlights a potential headwind to recovery from COVID-19. His findings show that states which lean or are solidly Republican re-opened sooner than Democratic states, and their testing and infection data are “trending poorly.”
Working paper— Workers at all earnings levels would benefit from expanding Social Security. SCEPA proposes defaulting workers into “Catch-Up” contributions, where— starting at age 50— they would contribute an additional 3.1% of their salary. The increase in alternative work arrangements among older workers is due to low wages stemming from older workers' decreased bargaining power.
Brief— Social Security benefits are progressive and reduce the unequal distribution of retirement wealth generated by a broken employer-based retirement systemSocial Security benefits are progressive and reduce the unequal distribution of retirement wealth generated by a broken employer-based retirement system.
